Gary Kubiak, Owen Daniels and Dunta Robinson

Alex, the answer is: “Three people who have never been in my kitchen.”*

Back from vacation, and managed to get a bit of sun poisoning despite staying out of the sun and wearing SPF 100. (Yes, that exists). Some stereotypes, like pasty blogger, are true.

In any event, I’m working on a few fun blog posts, but in the interim, I wish to discuss Gary Kubiak, Owen Daniels and Dunta Robinson.

Kubiak

Kubiak was recently on Sports Radio 610, and Nick Scurfield at his blog over at the official website was kind enough to transcribe the segment for those who don’t like to take the time to bother with podcasts and for the hearing impaired. No big surprises, though he does mention that he expects Slaton to be ready for OTAs, and ready for contact by training camp.

Daniels

Owen Daniels wishes he had a long term contract. He was offered one last off-season, and it wasn’t to his liking. He rejected it, and unfortunately, he had a in-season ACL injury and is rehabbing from that. He still wants a long term contract, but that’s a messy situation given 1. the labor situation; 2. his injury rehab; 3. he likely wants huge stupid money.

There’s a report that Daniels may skip training camp if he doesn’t get a long term deal. Alan “AJ” Burge has a good writeup of the situation over at the Houston Examiner site.

I’ve heard from someone who listened to the radio report who said that when Daniels said this, it was more like a joke, but that it was clear he wasn’t happy with the situation. Anyone else hear the interview?

Nobody is happy with the current situation in the NFL. It’s like celebrating Christmas, but knowing that they might cancel Christmas next year. The uncertainty has hurt Daniels’ earnings, but I guess the phrase we are supposed to use is “It is what it is.”

Robinson

So, the General says as we are getting closer to the franchise deadline, the Texans have not talked to Robinson. And that he believes this means they aren’t going to franchise him and that he may end up running of to the Redskins to play for stupid money. This will make Albert Haynesworth happy because then Redskin fans will have another player to be mad at for not playing up to his salary.

So, is this another year where the training wheels come off of the Texans’ secondary? Before the 2005 off-season, the Texans acquired Phillip Buchanon, and allowed Aaron Glenn just to go. Because I guess the Texans had too many fantastic corners to face Peyton Manning with Buchanon, Dunta Robinson and Petey Faggins.

If Robinson goes, I wish him the best for him. And I also wish I don’t see something in the secondary as bad as I saw in 2005. Dunta Robinson didn’t have an awful year last year or a spectacular year, but you basically know what you have there. A secondary without Robinson would be an adventure. Of what sort, we do not know. Any thoughts?

• • •

* I love this clip. Especially the part where Alex Trebek reveals the categories:

38 Responses

Kubiak – relying on Slaton to come back is a bad idea. We need more solid play at this position. Brown better be gone.

Daniels – Rolled the dice, crapped out. Sucks to be him. He should have taken the money. These idiots allow the agents to get it in their heads they are worth more then they are. Now he’ll get much less. Lesson learned hopefully.

Dunta – He needs to go away. Not worth the money. He won’t ever be worth the money for us. He’s unhappy. He needs to go. Yes, I get the whole “well at least you know what you have”, but in reality, do we? He is being touted as a top 5 corner, but he’s not playing as one. He is another one who thinks he worth much more than he is.

Out of the trio that were wanting new contracts, I only though Ryans and Daniels were worth considering. Daniels asked too much, held out, and now he is screwed. Sad, but that was the gamble. Dunta was delusional. We should work something out with Ryans yesterday.

[Who is touting Robinson as a top 5 corner? They offered something to Ryans last year, and he didn't like it. I'm not sure what they will do with the uncertainty of next year--hard to structure a contract in this environment--doesn't mean it can't be done but both sides need to be pretty motivated. -S]

Personally, I don’t want to see any of them go. I would keep Ryans and Daniels and then Robinson, in that order of importance. Captain Meco, aka Landshark is a no-brainer. I thought Casey was going to fluidly step right into Daniels shoes when he got hurt, but he didn’t. The rub is whether or not he can come back to his old self or not. Rick Smith always seems to say how you can never have too many corners, so I can’t see him letting Dunte go so easily without trying to keep him. who I do want to see go away is Bennett, RB Chris Brown, and Busing. Those guys were baaad this past season.

I just can’t wait to see what happens. Offseason additions and subtractions are almost as fun as the season itself. Thanks a million to you for blogging such funny and interesteing blogs so often. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

Hey Steph…hope the trip was fun. We had to cancel our pro bowl trip because one of my trusty underpaids didn’t show up for a shift so I had to suspend him. Which made me leaving work impossible. Of course it was the WORST freakin game to miss. Now I have to live vicariously thru others’ vacations.

This is completely off the subject…but some of us were discussing how the Houston sports teams are lacking in star power (after Tmac got traded and besides ‘Dre and Berkman). Which made me wonder…

Who would be on the Texans Mt. Rushmore? Obviously ‘Dre, DeMeco, and Mario (yes Mario haters…2 pro bowls and deserved another). I’m not sure after that. Schaub made the pro bowl…but a lot of people wanted Dr. Rosenrosen instead of him (plus you still have the people who wish Radio was drafted). Domanick Davis is our leading rusher…but disappeared with a bone bruise (or stone bruise in this case…good stuff). OD made the pro bowl…but not a extensive body of work. Aaron Glenn made the pro bowl…dunta has been around a while…gary walker was a pro bowler…kris brown got us mario…cush looks like a bad man. I really have 0 clue who would be the 4th. My fiancee likes Toro a lot…maybe him? Any suggestions???

[Sorry to hear about your trip. I hope to put up some fun video on mine. I don't think they put monuments together for people who haven't accomplished a great goal. I think the players would agree. It's a team sport and the team hasn't accomplished anything other than the miracle that is their existence in Houston. -Steph]

Is that asking too much? We fans have certainly been loyal, through thin and thin. In fact, I believe we’ve sold out every game. You’ve even pointed out the impossibility of being a fair weather Texans fan. While that doesn’t mean Bob McNair owes us a damn thing as a fanbase, it sure would go a long way if he decided to not let ANY talent leave this roster in an uncapped year.

this is the part that pisses me off about rick smith,for some small reason i’ve always thought this guy always was going to let go of our talent and try to adress the problems in draft exactly like the steelers do but i dont think he understands how important our core players are you know the people you build around.this guy had better figure something out soon ,i sure dont want to loose demeco or daniels,dunta on the other hand ,he had one good season and never produced like that he cant get the quick movement he used to cause of the injury,i would say give him a 3 year contract for second best corner pay and if takes it cool if he does’nt good luck on finding the money he wants.maby we should give a crack at cromartie ,san diego i heard is doing some shopping.for sure we need to sign demeco to a long contract he aint going anywhere if it were up to me.march 5 deadline coming soon who do we franchise i say daniels who do you pick.

I would not franchise Robinson. He is a fine player — a middle-of-the-pack starting corner — but the team can’t afford to pay him top-5 franchise money. That is a bad precedent to set for all of the top-level restricted free agents on the team.

They should make a solid offer, but not an extreme one. Give him a reasonable opportunity to stay, and let him walk if another team will overpay.

If they need a corner badly, they should draft one in the first 3 rounds. They have Reeves, Quinn and McCain who all played reasonably well last year plus they should have Molden coming back and Bennett will have one more chance to prove he can play.

Based on the numbers I saw mid-season last year, Robinson looked like the 3rd-best corner on the team. I don’t know what the numbers were at the end of the season, but I can’t see his absence leaving the team looking like 2005…

[No, his absence would not result in 2005 because that team had both an unwatchable offense and defense. The 06, 07, 08 Texans proved that you could win some games with a bottom of the barrel defense if your offense played well. The question is whether it looks more like the preseason 09 Texans' defense, which was scary bad. Keeping Robinson means you don't have to spend a high pick replacing him--which may be a good news/bad news thing. You perhaps get better for the future with fresh legs and a maybe great rookie, but the bad news is that you are breaking in a new guy without much veteran guidance, and relying on him to help get your team to the next level. -S]

I’m amazed that Slaton will play next year (or ever for that matter). He had what is referred to as a “discectomy”, or cervical prosthetic disc replacement surgery. Basically, they remove the herniated disc between two cervical vertebrae and replace it with a titanium prosthetic device. I know this because it’s the exact procedure that I had done last September (4 months ago)…and granted, I’m 43 years old, but I couldn’t possibly imagine playing NFL football after having had that procedure done…especially as a running back who continually gets slammed by the biggest, strongest, meanest atheletes in professional sports. Truly, I’m amazed.

This is a little off topic, but is there any chance that we go after Rolle if he is released by the Cardinals? Also, is there any chance that we would try to acquire Cromartie?

[Not too off topic. No telling. What we know: 1. They will use free agency to fill in needs; 2. They do not want to break the bank on players who are on their last contracts; 3. They've overspent on free agents in the past, but not premiere ones. Rolle is in the age where he would be appealing to the Texans if he is released. I don't think that the Texans have the players to trade for Cromartie, and I'm not sure they would want to. -Steph]

I’d hate to see them pay Dunta top dollar again but, how long do we wait on Fred Bennett? GQ can’t do it all. Me thinks Dunta is an above average CB whose value was inflated by the lack of talent surrounding him in past years.

[I think the value of DR is based on the NFL turning into a QB-oriented league with rules favoring offenses, and not enough corners available to deal with that. Just plain supply and demand. Is he a great corner? No, but there are very few of those these days. -Steph]

2nd, Duante, Duante , Duante…..What were you thining? So Mr. Pay Me, the Texans are prepared to offer you the same deal from last year, minus last year’s bloated salary and minus a 20% penalty for greed,disrespectful overconfidence, and a blind following of your agent. Don’t worry we can afford it, thanks to my never ending season ticket increases even when the economy sucks.

3rd, OD – man you were awesome last year until the injury. but business is business. Play this year under the franchise tag or with little guaranteed money, maybe a big bonus next March, and you will see your payday. We will “PAY YOU” if you come back from the injury. Please don’t “Duante” us.

4th, Ryans – There must be bank error, you should see the deposit anyday now.

5th, If we were building monuments, MATT SHAUB should be holding hands with AJ. 7th best yardage in NFL history….ALL TIME! The Atlanta trade paid off way better than I could have hoped. If you don’t see now, you will next year…you will.

6th, I bought my 5 year old an official NFL Slaton jersey at the start of season. He just has to come back. Not just becuase of the jersey, but my son kept asking me if Slaton scored the last TD during the end of season games. Good luck and god bless, Mr. Slaton.

[OD won't be franchised because he will be a RESTRICTED free agent, and not UNrestricted free agent. This is because the owners opted out of the previous labor agreement, so it will take a few more years before OD will be a UFA. -Steph]

Graz, I said the same thing a couple weeks ago. I am amazed they’re even considering letting Slaton play. One thing nobody has said anything about, or at least as far as I’ve read, is that the joint between those vertebrae is now fused. He has significantly reduced motion in his neck. My wife had to learn to back up the car with mirrors because she can’t turn her head around to back up. I sure hope it works out for Slaton but I fear this is very unwise.

Honestly, I have Slaton crossed off as a RB for us next year. I just don’t believe it’s going to work.

On DR, Daniels, and DeMeco we’re just going to have to trust them. It doesn’t feel good but we have no choice. I really don’t want to see this team move backwards this off season.

Daniels has some of the best hands I’ve ever seen on a tight end, he makes some amazing catches.

I know DR hasn’t been setting the world on fire since his injury, its just that I don’t know who you use to replace him. We have to play the Colts twice per year after all, and the game is becoming more pass oriented anyway. How do you let a guy like DR go?

All that said, Smith and company have more to think about than we do, they have to figure out how to put all the pieces together in a fashion that works financially and on the field. If they let any of these guys go they’d better be right.

[As I understand it, there are different versions of the neck surgery that Slaton had, and he says he's doing fine. I do not think that the Texans are counting on him to be fine, but will be very happy if he is. One way or another, I'm guessing we see at least two new running backs on the roster--maybe one vet, one rookie -S]

1: Kubiak: I’ve made my views about the man pretty clear. Amazed he’s being brought back AND given an extension and a doubling of his salary.

2: Daniels: Texans need to sign him. But they shouldn’t give him stupid money. Perhaps a solid contract with some big incentives.

3: Dunta: After his ‘Pay Me Rick’ stunt, he’s lost a lot of support in Houston. And this past season wasn’t stellar from him. If you’re going to offer him something, make it middle of the road (like his play last season). If he takes it, fine. If not, it just shows that the Texans need to draft another corner or find one in FA.

Kubiak never really says anything in his interviews. Seems like he is big on not giving away any possible secrets, and he never calls out his players in public. I like this about Kubiak, but a lot of people get annoyed with him and wish he were more of a character. Whatever. Just keep improving the team coach.

Daniels contract situation got all mixed up when Tampa gave Winslow a ton of money for no real reason. Now every TE that is better than Winslow – and there are a lot of them – thinks they need to make more than him. Dressen did a nice job after Daniels went down, and Casey has potential, but Daniels is a special player. I don’t think the Texans will let him go, and I don’t think he will skip all of camp. He might miss a couple weeks as part of negotiations, but I don’t think either side wants to see him miss much time. They’ll work it out.

Robinson is a more difficult situation. He’s good enough to start for many teams, and there are several out there who don’t have two starter level corners. And you really need 3, for nickel situations and injuries. I’ve seen a couple national rankings that have him in the top 10 free agents this off-season, and first or second in unrestricted free agents. He will get a big contract this year, but maybe not in Houston. He isn’t a top 5 corner, but he doesn’t have to be. If he’s in the top 30 and available, he’ll get paid like he’s top 5. You can’t let a guy like him go and count on being able to draft a guy to take his place. You need the new starter on the roster already, and the new nickel. Since this year is likely uncapped, I’d tag him again and develop his replacement if that was what it took.

[Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I very much agree with your point on Kubiak. I like the way he communicates to the world--basically keeping controversial stuff in-house, but sharing enough information that people know what is basically going on without throwing people under the bus. That approach isn't fun for the media, but it results in a better locker room. -Steph]

Not an elite corner. Lost the hearts of Texans fans last year. (Nothing wrong with wanting to get paid, but acting like a spoiled brat after you were offered and got more than what you’re worth, no bueno in these parts). More so, he can be held single handedly responsible for their non-playoff appearance when he let VY’s duck pass bobble thru his hands on the winning score with time running out.

Rolled the dice, came up winner winner chicken dinner.

He has a big pay day coming, period. Either with the Texans or otherwise.

The sad thing is he is much more valuable to the Texans than any other team. If he moves to another team as you astutely stated he will get paid, but will be counted on much more than he is capable, obvious to those who watched him last year. I hope he sees this and what he could mean to the franchise and works something out long term with the Texans, but I doubt he will. No fault there. Most people are blinded by dollar signs including me.

Daniels-

Rolled the dice came up snake eyes.

I watched the Texans/Titans (win) over the weekend and it was obvious how much Schaub counts on Daniels and how valuable his hands and knowledge of the offense are.

That being said, he was an idiot for not taking the money with the UFA year coming and his lack of tenure as well as the fact that he had had, 1 good year! I also think that Joel Dressen is more than capable to fill those shoes in an (A-) capacity. This offense opens the middle of the field for the TE, (See S. Sharpe) and it just a matter of time that Schaub gets on the same page with JD and or Casey as he was with Daniels.

OD can be a great player, but as we saw this week with LT, great players are easily replaceable.

Kubiak-

The General thought we were going to draft RB and should have drafted VY. He also thought Munchak was a candidate for OC.

If Kubiak is on the hot seat, ergo Rick Smith is on the hot seat, there is NO WAY, they can let DRob go with nothing in return. If this is your “playoffs or bust” year, no matter how over paid, you cannot let your best secondary member walk leaving it to what we have now. Everyone wants to talk about Glover Quinn, I liked GQ too, but I have another rookie name for you, Fred Bennett. Remember how high we all were on him? Where’d you go Freddie?

I’m telling you right now, if they do not franchise DRob, Smithiak and Bob Mcnair have a deal going on that none of us is aware of.

That deal extends beyond this year for their tenure.

Which btw, I’m ok with.

I would love the Texans to draft a WR, or inside LB, blowing everyone away. Think about it like Jordan when he joined the bulls. His team sucked, but he was so good that they made the playoffs every year until they filled the roster with better players. If the Texans paired AJ, with Dez Bryant (Whew!) or an elite WSLB our LB or WR core could be so good, it could compensate for a huge deficiency in say…the secondary.

dont want dunta to go but Daniels and Ryans are alot more important at this point we need to lock those guys in. Quinn was a solid rookie and should get better, he tackles as well as dunta and has more upside.

I know OD is a fan favorite and all, but Dreesen and Thor are better options than anything we have behind DR. He may be all but gone, but I’m not at all happy with what that means for the team.

It narrows our BPA strategy in the draft and leaves us scraping the FA barrel for DBs. I like Earl Thomas for us at 20, but I don’t want to be locked into him in case he gets snagged early.

I know that Bob McNair is leading the charge on rolling back the players’ share of revenues, but I’m afraid it’s handcuffing Rick Smith at a critical juncture. I’m fine with the decision not to franchise DR, but not even talking to him reeks of hardliner nonsense. I thought he wanted to play here? I just don’t want to see us miss short-term opportunities to win because of McNair’s long-term profitability plans.

Stephanie, It has been stated that Slaton’s repair may effect his ability to turn his head. This should not be a problem for this franchise as I have heard nothing but excuses for Jacques Reeves’ inability to do the same. All people do is point to him having a good season & he played better, which he did. I am not taking anything away from ‘what he did’, but rather I am concerned about ‘what he is not doing’ & that is defending passes thrown in his direction after the receiver gets a step or two on him. How many INT’s has he made in this situation? Zero, zip, zilch, not a darn one. This should be addressed this season because Reeves has the potential to go beyond good in a Texans uniform. And secondly, there is always going to be a guy named Peyton looking in his direction. We cannot move forward until we find the key to stopping Manning & this means Reeves has to be part of the solution. The Colts went to the SB with no ground attack at all. They will no doubt address this problem in 2010, so we better be able to defend the obvious. Peyton’s arm.

Years ago, I played Safety and got beat on a long TD pass in a playoff game. In the newspaper, my Coach said, “Jack had him covered. He just got beat by a real big and fast receiver.” That took a little salt out of the wound.

If he would have used Kubiaks standard line, “We just didn’t execute,”… it would have made me feel like I wasn’t ready and didn’t give it all I had. Sorry, but that catch-phrase just rubs me the wrong way.

[Actually, he addresses specifically plays in just the way you said. I bet if you went through some old pressers you could find many examples. But yeah, he says the "execute" word, but not nearly as much as Capers did. -S]

Another twist….CB rankings by profootballfocus.com rank Dunta as the 3rd ranked CB on the Texans behind Reeves(#41) and Quin (#74). Dunta is ranked 98th out of 107 ranked CBs. Based on this sub par ranking I can’t see the Texans using the Franchise tag on DR.

If the Texans do let DR became a FA, hopefully they will get a compensatory pick for his departure. This would also change the dynamics of the 2010 draft. If CB Kyle Wilson runs a sub 4.4 at the combine then he will likely be the Texans 1st RD draft pick provided Brian Price is not available. Some will argue that FS Earl Thomas is the pick but I contend that Wilson has played 50 games as a shut down corner and a 4.3 40 will make Wilson the pick.

As for Daniels, if he goes to OTAs it will take him about 365 days to fully recover from his injury. If he skips OTAs it will take him about a year.

I expect the Texans to draft Toby Gerhart the best power RB in this draft in the 2nd RD and then Slaton would eventually become a 3rd down back that everyone thought he would be when he was first drafted.

S.S.- I did not mention the “P” word in 2009 & I most certainly won’t put this tag on the 2010 Texans. Kubes, Smith & McNair are the ones that started this ‘rumor’ & I understand the fans joining in. From 8-8 to 9-7 is a babystep, not a giant leap of faith. This franchise is still a work in progress no matter how much we want this year to be ‘the year’. We are not as close to the brass ring as some may choose to believe. The games we lost by so few points are not to be considered a reason for optimism, but a concern as to why we lost them. Those losses must be seen for what they are. An inability to maintain focus & intensity for 60 minutes. Kubiak’s lack of a gameplan that involves adjustments toward winning rather than relying on trying to duplicate that which got you there, but won’t allow you to go beyond. This is a team that cannot move the ball 1 yard for a TD in the Red Zone, while the #1 receiver in the NFL sits on the bench for the entire series of downs. Kris Brown scored more points using his foot than the other 10 guys on the field too many times. Add to the mix, the Colts & Titans & we are no closer to that brass ring in 2010 than we were during 8-8×3.

Steph, We not only share the same headache woes, but also the skin related ones as well. I was never one to lay out on the beach at Galveston in my youth. I have skin problems today as a result of my outdoor activities from fishing to farming. My dermo-doc instructed me to apply SPF 500 before venturing out on my trusty tractor. You can attain this degree of protection by putting the SPF 100 on your skin in 5 even coats with a 4″ paintbrush. Use a latex type brush. The oil base ones lose bristles that stick to your skin blocking the sun & resulting in a really bizzare looking tan.

Bewildered, Steph’s right…there are different versions of the surgery. One is called a fusion, and this used to be the gold standard but these day’s it’s becoming old school. This is where they remove the disc and replace it with a bone graft that’s usually cut from the patient’s own hip. Typically, range of motion isn’t greatly reduced with this type of surgery, since only one junction is fused. It does have drawbacks though. One is recovery time. With this type of procedure, a plate must be installed to allow the graft time to knit with the adjoining vertebrae…as the neck must be immobilized to allow for this healing, there’s significant time spent wearing a neck brace. Also, this method puts additional strain on adjacent discs…patients who get a fusion are usually back for more surgery on the adjacent discs within 10-15 years.

These days, the more common method is a prosthetic disc replacement (which is what I got). There’s no grafting, no plate, and no neck brace required. I could immediately move my neck around post-surgery…in fact the doctor was encouraging me to do so.

what is the point of letting dunta go at this stage of our franchise- this team is not good enough to subtract a player like Dunta and be on the winning side- hello did you not learn anything from the rockets?…

dunta is not the best corner but he is a good corner that you dont have worries about- yea he got toasted alot, he tried to hold top 5 talent every week just to find out he didnt have top five talent. but he is franchise talent which means he is good enough to worry about either needs else where….

you keep players like dunta until the youngins is ready, mind you we fans seem to forget that Dunta risk his career comin back early for the love of his fans and the team. but we humans are a fickle breed, and quickly forget. sign him and build your team where it needs it….

I disagree with you, Kreno (I’m not trying to call you out, just making it so people can follow what comment I am responding to). I think that the close losses ARE a reason for optimism. A team that wins 8 close games and loses 8 blowouts is way closer to being a 4 game winner than a 10 game winner. A team that loses 6 close games, loses 1 beatdown, and has 9 winners from something like 5 close games and 4 beatdowns is much closer to a 12 win team. Especially when that team had terrible work from the running backs running the ball, lost the 2nd best receiving option (Daniels), then the 3rd best receiving option (Slaton), and had 2 guards knocked out. All of these things, plus what I think is continuous growth, are signs for optimism.

If the first 8-8 season had a few balls bounce the wrong way and ended up 5-11, would 5-11, 8-8, 9-7 be progress? If another ball bounced the right way this year and we won 10 games, but we didn’t have a dominating linebacker that won the 2nd defensive rookie of the year award in 4 years, would that be cause for more optimism?

No. Some things in sports ARE random, as much as fans want to believe that they are within the full control of the players and coaches.

I understand your position, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree.

[The stats guys would agree with you. They believe that in a 16 game season, there is a certain amount of luck involved. -Steph]

Dunta is gone. That is my gut feeling. Here is the scenario I would like to see unfold: Sharper AND Peppers come to the Texans. Not bloody likely, but that would certainly be a net gain of a whole lotta D!

Cat’s out of the bag, DR is gone, reported this morning on the radio by McCain and the Chron has a story up now too.

I’m very leery of this. But we have a good set of coaches and a new DC. A lot of fans like GQ a lot but Bryce McCain is good too. If you have that 2009 16th game on tape, go back and watch the last drive by the Patriots attempting to tie the game. The last 2 pass attempts are broken up by McCain.

I don’t think they did this casually or in spite or anything like that. I think they looked at all the factors, the draft and what players were available, what they have on the roster, the FA market, what contract DR wanted, how everything needed to fit together, and they decided they had to pass. At least I hope that’s what they did.

I’m going to miss the DR of his first year.

Graz thanks for the link and the update on how that surgery is done now. It has been 7 years since my wife had her’s done. I feel…slightly less pessimistic about Slaton.

Hey Steph, agree with pretty much everything you said (as usual). Unfortunately, I really don’t see any prospect of a long term deal with Daniels this offseason. The ironic thing is that the detailed language of the Winslow contract makes it nothing like as team-unfriendly as is widely reported, but the headline numbers are still apparently being used by agents in an attempt to distort the TE market as a whole.

As for Robinson, he’s clearly not willing to sign for an amount that realistically represents his level of play from 2006 onwards, so he’s gone – presumably to Washington, because no-one else in the league has Snyder’s extraordinary money:sense ratio.

Frankly, I think the secondary has been this team’s biggest problem every season from 2005 onwards, and that would still be true even if Robinson was coming back. Fix the coverage problems, and this team will be a serious contender (I acknowledge, of course, that this is easier said than done). I can’t agree with those clamouring for a high profile running back signing. Moats and Foster were effective last season, and competent running backs can be found later in the draft or as street free agents. Only the very, very best players at the position are worth major expenditure. Cornerbacks, on the other hand, are emphatically not fungible (except maybe for very pure Tampa-2 teams). We should look carefully at the likes of Carlos Rogers in free agency (his ball skills suck, but he covers pretty well), and draft at least one and probably two players at the position to compete with the guys on the roster. In an ideal world, free agency nets us Rogers, Rolle and Hampton, filling our three biggest needs and allowing us to draft BPA. More realistically, we are likely to end up using two of our first three picks at two of those three positions in the hope of getting an immediate contribution.

[Yup, pretty much. I don't have much hope for the secondary with Dunta, and without, I am hoping for non-catastrophe. Seeing promising things from rookies last year is very much different than having dependable options at corner. One of the main reasons why the Saints were better this year is that they finally jettisoned the very bad Jason David experience, and replaced him with someone who wasn't a flaming pile of suck. The question is whether the progress of the defense will continue, or with the absence of a veteran corner, will they regress into a bunch of confused, inexperienced corners. You know, the defense that is great if you only take the three big plays away. Ultimately, this off-season as it relates to the entire defense is very important--I'm just not very happy with the likely moves--either 1. add a promising rookie who will make mistakes like rookies do and whose best days are in the couple year future and not next year, or 2. add some try hard free agent of a caliber that may or may not make the team. Reeves, Quin, Bennett, Molden, McCain, (+promising rookie and/or garbage free agent) is meh to me. You going to get Reeves to mentor your in-coming rookie? Is this group of players going to get any calls go their way? In a QB oriented league, secondary is my biggest worry for next year...whether or not Dunta left -Steph]

I was about 50/50 on Dunta staying with the Texans this year, but I wasn’t expecting them to make a decision this soon. I know good organizations like to let players know early so they can be looking for another team, but after the way Dunta acted last offseason and the shoe stunt, I wouldn’t have felt the need to let him know early. If I were Rick Smith, I would have been tempted to show up at the office on the last possible day with “Ain’t gonna pay you, Dunta” on my shoes. I guess they Texans front office is trying to be the bigger person.

I’m not sure if they are being the brighter person. The brighter person would have a replacement in hand before letting go of Robinson. He might not be a top 5 guy, but most of what I see left without him is hope and potential. This is a guy with experience and leadership skills that still has talent. Robinson is going to get paid a lot – probably overpaid, but that will be someone else’s problem. Even average corners don’t become available very often. Then again, his leadership ability is probably what influenced the Texans to let him go. When you have a vocal leader who is not happy with management, he can hurt the team’s development. If losing Robinson means better negotiations with Ryans, Daniels, and other guys up for new contracts, it could be worth the loss. That really depends on how the other corners play.

[I'm guessing that last year was the year they were keeping him while they were developing new guys. Kubiak was pretty high on Quin. The franchise tag to keep him was going to be nuts, and there was going to be no working out a deal with him given the possibility to be a UFA. -S]

i think they are banking on addin someone on the Dline too take some of the pressure of the corners next year. the vikings didnt have stars at corner but their DLine took alot of work out of their hands. we gotta make sure we get a beast up front now….

Like it or not, Smithiak is in for 2 more years (work stoppage aside) no matter what happens in 10′.

Anything can happen to the Texans next year, but they already had holes in the secondary.

The only hope?

The one thing that Smithiak is given credit for is talent evaluation. They have a bunch of people in the secondary that they believed enough in to draft and it seems crystal clear that they will draft more in April.

That having been said, they are as green as a frog, and seem to have trouble staying healthy. And no one is being confused with Vernon Perry back there.

This was a smart football move. In what world does Dunta deserve 12Million a year? Bizarro World NFL 2010 that’s where.

The thing is, it ain’t Smithiak’s money. But it is their job. Their jobs just got a whole lot tougher with an even bigger hole in the secondary.

So if it wasn’t your money, but you were on the hot seat, why WOULDN’T you over pay Dunta?

In the last two years in preparation for the draft the Texans have done the following:

a) Send no one to attend USC’s pro day in 2009.

b) Schedule elective surgery for the head coach during the week of the combine.

I know the party line is the Texans drafted Cushing and look how that turned out while Kubiak scouts on tape.

However, this doesn’t exactly exude a “let’s leave no stone left unturned mentality” considering the Patriots discovered Matt Cassel at a USC pro day which they turned into an 11-5 season and a 2nd round draft pick.

FWIW, another thing McCain hinted at this morning on the radio was that they think Barwin is ready to take on a bigger role on the DLine. If that’s the case – and I saw some really good play from Barwin this year – they may be thinking they don’t need more help at DE. Barwin got 4.5 sacks playing part time this year which is pretty darn good.

I say that to put context in what they may be thinking about the draft. It seems to me that with this move to let DR go they are all but putting up billboards that they’re going to draft DBs high and often this year.

A lot of folks are down on the OLine and specifically our center (Myers). I don’t think his play is that bad and the truth is he isn’t that small either, and the fact is he was playing with 2 backup guards. It could be that everyone’s dreams of Iup…Iuap…that guard everyone is talking about are a red herring. If they think our guards are going to make it back healthy this year they may stand pat there.

All I’m saying is *IF* they think the DLine is in better shape than some of us do and *IF* they think the OLine is going to be pretty much OK the way it is *AND* they like the DBs we have *THEN* they might think we have more room to maneuver than some of us think we do. And keep in mind, by not signing DR money is freed for signing DeMeco and OD.

Just trying to see through a dark glass here. /shrug

[As a part time player, Barwin had the most sacks of any rookie DE. But one of the reasons why he may have been a part time player were concerns about his run defense. Barring injury, I expect to see more of Barwin and Casey.-S]

Hey Steph, don’t know if you knew this, but you made it on EPSN.com. Okay it was in page 2, in a miniscule article, and it wasn’t the most positive light, but it’s still there. Second paragraph under Category 2.

[Yeah, I've been getting lots of random emails from friends I haven't heard from in a while about that. Funny thing is that some of my other predictions in the same post turned out good. Basically, the entire point of all of that is that even people who have very good information are not much better than blind squirrels. -Steph]

There are certain people you should negotiate with on better terns and certain you should stick to your guns. Rick Smith clearly stuck to his guns properly as Owen Daniels ended up injured which is part of his value. So Rick was right on Dunta who underperformed and Owen who also underperformed. I hope Owen comes to his senses and realizes that Ricks next real good top 5 TE offer might be the best he can do and should sign it as he may end up unfortunately like Robinson. Injured, then plays bad, then out of luck. I hope he takes Ricks next offer and realizes it was fair if rumors are accurate since he did end up getting injured Owen??? As for Demeco. Demeco deserves to be part of a renotiating process that sees him earning as much or more than Cushing earns. Cushing and Demeco are interchangeable parts of a great defense. Or should I say non interchangeable parts? Without which one or the other we would drop drastically on defense. So he should be locked up for some years. Owen should too but he should seriously look at the big picture and think about taking that top 3 TE money he no doubt was offered already. Top 2 TEs dont get injured after contract years and are still considered elite while they are not playing. Its something to consider for Rick as well.

[Rick Smith offered each of those players long term deals. Each of those players didn't like the terms. That happens. Whether something can be worked out long term is a difficult deal because of labor uncertainty. -S]

[Yup, it's that time of year again. Unintentionally funny if you watch the drills thinking that the commentators are going a little homo-erotic. Bubbles, loose hips, and mens wearing very tight little clothes. -S]

**Dennis**- Thanks for not “calling me out”. I don’t have the strength. I appreciate your views as well as respect what you are saying. I do not think that you are wrong. I just expect more from a team that plays below it’s capabilities. I don’t find a reason for optimism in losing a close game as opposed to grieving over a blowout. My concern is the how & why we lost the close games. There is no debating the Jets opener here. Everyone was on the same page after this one & we will remember it the next time we meet because it is payback time. However, I cannot put those close losses behind me because we had the ability to win & did not finish those games. A 17-0 1st qtr. lead against the Colts, in our house, during a must win game & the Texans, once again, like clockwork, fail to finish. And this is how most of our close losses took place. With a team full of promise as well as promises, top caliber QB, the #1 receiver & more ProBowl selections than ever before & we still cannot play for 60 minutes. I find no solice in their losses, close or otherwise, but I also find no excuse for their continued practice of shooting themselves in the foot. We are not the Lions or Raiders, we are the Houston Texans from the 4th largest city in the nation. I just figure it is time for this team to start acting like it.